Printing device in autographic register



A. A. c. D'EGEN- PRINTING DEVICE IN AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER March 24, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 3, 1950 "II-II. I

Inventor mx/rxvpsmc. ores/v,

Attorney March 24, 1953 V A. A. c. EGEN PRINTING DEVICE IN AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1950 Inventor 4wzvozxytape-sgzv,

Attorney March 24, 1953 'A. A. c. DEGEN 5 3 PRINTING DEVICE m AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Filed March 5, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ma By Attorney March 24, 1953 A. A. c. DEGEN PRINTING DEVICE IN AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 5, 195v A ttorn ey March 24, 1953 A. A. c. DEGEN 2,

PRINTING DEVICE IN AUTOGRAPHIC'REGISTER F iled March a, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 F G. 6 s5 7' I 7o 5/ 54 m),

1 nventor 4, \w/vasR z c. peas/v,

Attorney Patented Mar. 24, 1953 PRINTING DEVICE IN AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Alexander Adolphus Carlo Degen, Harrow, England Application March 3, 1950, Serial No. 147,339 In Great Britain March 7, 1949' 3 Claims. i

This invention relates to autographic registers of the type comprising a casing forming a com partment adapted to house a plurality of superimposed webs of paper forms, manually operable means for feeding said forms step-by-step in unison across a writing platen and. through a second part of the register to a delivery point, and a printing member mounted in said second part and adapted to print information, such as the time and date of issue, consecutive number or other data on said forms each time said forms are advanced to a point intermediate said writing platen and delivery point. The webs of forms may be carbon backed or interleaved with carbon papers.

One of my principal objects is to provide such a register in which the printing member is itself movable as a unit towards said forms to print the information thereon even though said member comprises figure wheels adapted to be advanced by a clock to print the time and date of issue of said forms.

Another of my objects is to provide new mechanism for controlling the actuation of said printing member.

A further object is to provide means for causing said printing member to print the desired information on relatively different parts of consecutive forms in order to ensure maximum usage of the printing medium such as an inked or car bon impregnated ribbon or paper interleaved and positioned over said webs.

These and other objects will be more readily understood by referenceto the annexed drawings which illustrate, by way of example only, one embodiment of my invention. In the annexed drawmgs:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view with parts of the top cover removed.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the autographic register with the side cover removed showing the interconnecting mechanism between the manually operated feeding lever and the operation of the printing member.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3 showing the position taken up by the mechanism when the manually operable feeding lever has been moved into its predetermined position for effecting the printing operation.

Fig. 5 is a sectional end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional side elevation of the printing member and associated mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the printing member;

and associated mechanism. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the printing mem.- her and associated mechanism.

Referring to the drawings Figs. 1 and 2 the.

autographic register illustrated comprises a casing I, which is divided by a central baflle 2, to

provide two compartments 3 and 4. A pack of two or more interleaved paper webs of forms 5, is placed in the compartment 3, the number of webs in the example illustrated being three, and these are drawn through a dividing. grid 6 over a writing platen 1, and under an apertured guide plate 8, between a roller 9 and feed discs I it whence the lower copy is fed down under a dividing lip ll into the compartment 4, access eating carbon sheets, which in the example illustrated would be two, is positioned at l6 and thefor the duplication of the writing on the top sheet to the two under sheets.

The feeding of the paper webs or strips is accomplished by the manual operation of an externa1 feeding lever I! which is normally located in the position marked l'la'in Figure 1 and is adapted to be pulled into the position marked l'ib, as shown by the arrow, when the paper webs are to be fed forward, that is to say, towards the dividing lip II. A coil spring I8 is provided on the axle of the lever I! which serves to return it to the normal position Ila after operation.

Rotation is imparted to the feed discs ID by operation of the manual lever I! through the medium of a toothed quadrant l9 and pinion 20 respectively secured to the lever axle and feed disc shaft and situated within the casing l of the machine. The pinion 20 is formed with an armate cut-away portion 2| in which the arc of the quadrant fits and which serves to lock the feed discs against further movement during the l return stroke of the feeding lever, after one complete revolution has been effected. A swinging pawl 90 resting against a stop 93 is provided on the quadrant and is urged by a spring 92 to engage with a lug 9| on the pinion to initiate rotation of the feed disc shaft upon the commencement of each stroke of the lever 11, the engagement of the gear teeth thereafter serving to drive the shaft for the remainder of the stroke.

A non-return pawl 22 is fitted to the casing I of the machine and engages with the teeth 23 of the ratchet gear fixed to the feed disc shaft and prevents any reversal of motion of this shaft and of the feeding lever l1 during its operating stroke, that is, whilst the teeth of the quadrant I9 and pinion 23 are in engagement, return of the feeding lever being only possible when the feeding stroke is completed and the cut-away portion 2| of the pinion is in the position shown inthe drawing in Figure 1 with the quadrant teeth disengaged.

The printing member 24. carrying the data to be printed is situated under the top cover l4 and is: pivoted on a rod 25, carried by a stirrup 26 which is secured to a shaft 21-. An arm 28 is secured onthe end of the shaft 21. Springs 29 are provided which tend to pull the stirrup 26- downwards thus forcing the printing member 24: onto the paper strips, but the stirrup is normally held in the lifted positionshown in- Figure 1 by means of a link 33- (Figure 3) which holds the arm 23 in the lifted position. A mechanism is provided, as shown in Figure 3 and as will be described hereafter, whereby the arm 28' is: released and the: printing member 24 is allowed to drop under the-action of the springs.

29- to effect theprinting operation during the manual operation of the feeding. lever I'lwhen the latter has. reached such a position during its stroke that thelower edge-of the forms which have previously been written on have been fed under the top cover l4 and the printing member 24, thus precluding the possibility of any further information being written thereon. The

link 30 has a toe 44 which. abuts against the.

top edgev of' the member 34 which, is cutaway to form a step. 35. Consequently when the lever I1 is operated. to feed the paper webs forward the pin 32 draws the sliding member 34 to the left, as viewed in the drawings, until the lever is in the position He; as shown in Figure" 4, whereupon the toe 44' of the link 30 drops over the step 35 and the arm: 28 is released, the printing: member 24: being forced by the springs 29 onto the paper webs.

Adjacent the sliding member 34 is a secon sliding, member 38 which is influenced to follow the motion of the member 34- by means of an interconnected spring 40, but it is initially prevented from movingby' a. catch 4| pivoted at 42, as shownin Figure 3. the: same pivot is the lever 43 the end of which is connected to the link. 30 and therefore when the; latter drops over. the step; 35 as shown in Also mounted on Figure 4, the lever 43 rocks, lifting the catch 4| out of engagement with the follow-up member 38 which is therefore rapidly drawn to the left in line with the member 34 by the interconnected spring 40. A slanting cam edge 39 formed on the upper edge of the member 38 engages with the toe 44: of the link 30 lifting the latter, the; arm 28' and consequently the printing member 24 into the normal position again. The end of the follow-up member 33 is bent over at 31 to form an abutment against the end of the sliding member 34, thereby constraining the amount of motion of the former relation to the latter.

It. will be seen from the foregoing that, once the manually operable lever I! has been moved into the position We, the dropping of the link 30 to effect the printing operation and its subsequent raising into the normal position is entirely automatic and cannot be influenced by any further operation of the lever l'l, backward. move ment of the latter being prevented by the non-- return. pawl. 22, shown in- Figure 1, as already described.

The flanged disc 3t is formed with aradial edge 45 which abuts against a stop pawl 46 when the lever is moved. into the position I'Ic, thereby preventing further movement of said lever. The pawl 46 is. provided with an arm Hi3 pivoted on a shaft l0]. andattached to a spring 102., The arm [00 carries a pin41 which engages with a cam. edge. 48 on the follow-up member 38, and upon the motion ofthe latter when it. is released by the catch 41,. the pawl 43 is forced down out of engagement with the. radial. edge of the flanged disc 31 and completion ofv the stroke of the lever IT into the position l'l'b can be effected. At the same time the spring I02 is stressed. It will thus be seen that the lever I1 is held in the. position. [To until the printing. operation is completed, the catch 4| lifted and the follow-up member 38 moved under the influence of the spring 43.

When the lever I1 is returned to its original position ready for the next feed movement, that is to say into the position shown in Figure 31 the pin 32' returns the member 3'4 whilst the toe 44 is held in the raised or inoperative position by the member 38 as the step 35- passes underneath, thereafter the arm I03 returns the member 38 to the position shown in Figure 3' ready for the next cycle of operation as before described.

Details of one form of' construction of' the,

printing member is shown in Figures 6, 7 and. 8. This provides for the printing, of the date and time (in hours and minutes) as, for ex ample, 50 MR l2P 2. 48" representing 1950" by-step by the pawl 53 and link 52,. the outer end of which is pivotally connected to the operating. rod. 54. The operating rod 54 is adapted to be reciprocated' in the direction of the arrow by anv electromagnetic solenoid. 55 (Fig. 2)

housed under the top cover through' the medium,

The

of the solenoid plunger 5'! and bellcrank 58. The pivotal connection between the link 52 and operating rod 54 is to provide for the downward thrust of the printing frame 24 during the printing operation and the lateral sliding of the frame on the rod without effecting the pulsing of the ratchet 5| by means of the operating rod 54. The solenoid 55 is adapted to be connected in the circuit of a master clock and slave system of a known type which provides for an electric impulse to be given to the solenoid once every minute.

Interconnection between the units minute wheel, the tens minute) wheel, and the hour wheel is effected by customary stepped tooth transfer pinions 59.

A solenoid 56 may also, if desired, be employed to operate the units date wheel in a similar manner through the medium of bell crank 68, operating rod 61 and link 62. the interconnection between the units date wheel, the tens date wheel, and the months wheel being effected by similar tooth transfer pinions to those shown at 59.

Printing on the upper web or strip of forms is effected through a length of carbon impregnated ribbon 53, as used for instance in typewriters, which is stretched across a gap formed in a ribbon holder frame 64, the ends of the ribbon being attached by means of a clip or gumming to the two ends of the frame 94. A stirrup 55 is pivotally mounted on the rod 25 to span the printing frame 2 3 the ends of which are provided with pins on which the ribbon holder 64 can be clipped. Printing on the lower webs or strips of forms is effected through the interleaved duplicating carbon sheets drawn from the roll [6 already described, the roll being of such a length as to extend under the path of the printing frame 24.

So as to ensure that the printing impression takes place on a fresh portion of carbon ribbon and interleaved carbon sheets at each stroke means are provided for automatically moving the printing frame 24 step-by-step laterally to and fro along the rod 25. For this purpose a ratchet wheel 66 is mounted to rotate on a pivot pin projecting from a frame 61 secured to the body of the machine. The ratchet is provided with an eccentrically mounted pin 68 which engages with a slot formed in a cross-head 69 connected to a slide 10 which is slotted at H to engage with a member 12 secured to the printing frame 24. R0- tation of the ratchet causes the slide 10 to travel to and fro and this motion is imparted to the printing frame 24 by means of the member 12.

Step-by-step rotation of the ratchet is effected by means of a sprin tensioned pawl 13 mounted on the shaft 21, oscillation of which at each printing stroke causes the pawl to step the ratchet one tooth. A non-return pawl 14 is provided.

I claim:

1. An autographic register comprising a casing forming a compartment adapted to house a plurality of superimposed webs of paper forms, manually operable means for feeding said forms step-by-step in unison across a writing platen and through a second part of the register to a delivery point, a movable spring-loaded printing member mounted in said second part above the path of said forms and adapted to print information thereon, a movable step-shaped member which is adapted to hold said printing member inoperative against its spring loading, a movable cam member connected to said step-shaped member by a spring which is unstressed when said printing member is held inoperative, an interconnection between said feed means and said step member adapted to move said step member to release said printing member for a printing stroke and to stress said cam spring each time said form are advanced to a point intermediate said platen and delivery point, and means for preventing movement of said cam by said stressed spring until after each printing stroke has taken place, said cam being thereafter operative to return said printing member to said inoperative position.

2. An autographic register according to claim 1, and comprising means for reciprocating said printing member in a series of steps across the path of said forms whereby printing is effected on relatively different parts of consecutive forms.

3. An autographic register comprising, a casing forming a compartment adapted to house a plurality of superimposed webs of paper forms, manually operable means for feeding said forms step-by-step in unison across a writing platen and through a second part of the register to a delivery point, printing means movably mounted in said second part above the path of said forms and adapted to print information thereon, a first spring normally urging said printing means to- Ward said platen, releasable and return means normally holding said printing means inoperative against said first spring, and adapted to release said printing means for a printing stroke when said forms are in an advanced position and thereafter to return said printing means, said releasable and return means comprising, a pair of slides engaging said printing means, a second spring interconnecting said slides, the first slide being connected to said manually operable means for sliding movement in a first direction to release said printing means for a printing stroke, said spring being stressed due to said movement of said first slide to urge the second slide in said first direction, detent means holding said second slide against the action of said second spring, means responsive to the completion of the printing stroke for releasing said detent means, and means on said second slide for engaging and returning said printing means against the action of said first spring upon movement of said second slide in said first direction under the action of said second spring.

ALEXANDER ADOLPHUS CARLO DEGEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,454 Norcross Sept. 29, 1896 1,224,279 Courtney May 1, 1917 1,881,578 Hinds Oct. 11, 1932' 2,063,427 Gilardoni Dec. 8, 1936' 2,200,308 Sherman May 14, 1940 2,396,199 Pfeiffer Mar. 5, 1946 2,460,659 Schmidt Feb. 1, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 611,074 Great Britain Feb. 11, 1946 

